Missing Columbia University Student Rented Apartment to "Get Away from It All"

19 year-old Nayla Kidd was reported missing last week after she went missing from Columbia University in New York City. Friends report last seeing her at an on-campus party on May 5.

She did not contact family and friends or show up to take her final exams, and her Facebook account, credit cards, and cell phone had all been deactivated. Police say she took these measures to ensure that she could not be found.

Kidd was found in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where she had rented an apartment, according to the New York Daily News.

Columbia's Vice President for Public Safety, Jim McShane, sent out an email alert assuring students she'd been found:

Kidd was on a full scholarship to the university's School of Engineering and Applied Science. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, her mother and other relatives flew to the university to raise awareness about her disappearance.

“She prides herself on doing her very best in school,” said her mother, a professor at the University of Louisville to Channel 2 last week. “For her to be missing right now is very heart wrenching.”

A police source told the Daily News, "Basically, she just wanted to get away from it all...She rented a place in Brooklyn.”

"She didn't want to be at school anymore."

A Facebook page set up to help find Kidd asked supporters to respect the family's privacy at this time.

Photo Credit: Facebook

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